1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a controller which can be used in a vehicle which has a backup alarm, to control when the backup alarm is activated and deactivated.
2. Discussion of the Background
Backup alarm systems are used in a wide variety of vehicles. Such backup alarm systems operate to warn pedestrians that a nearby vehicle is in reverse, to thereby provide a warning sound to pedestrians near the vehicle.
In some circumstances, however, it is desirable to eliminate the backup warning sound emitted by the backup alarm. An example of such a circumstance may be late at night in a residential environment. In this situation, an operator of a vehicle may not want a backup warning alarm to sound. In fact, in at least one country, England, it is against the law to operate such a backup alarm system after 10:00 p.m. Consequently, in England all vehicles which have a backup alarm must have a switch mounted in the driver's area that can control power to the backup alarm, to thereby deactivate the backup alarm by operation of the switch. However, mounting and wiring of such a switch is tedious and greatly increases the cost of installation of the backup alarm.